Means for preparing a shoe sole for laying and for attaching a heel



Oct. 3, 1939. s. AZZARA 2,174,957

MEANS FOR rREPARING A SHOE SOLE FOR LAYING AND FOR ATTACHING HEEL Filed March 11, 1939 lNVENTOR 1mm fizzara ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Santo Azzara, Jamaica, N. Y.

Application March 11,

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in means for preparing a shoe sole for laying and for attaching a heel.

In preparing a shoe sole for laying and heel- 5 attaching in connection with the manufacture of shoes in which the sole blank comprises a heel breast flap, and a heel seat portion of corresponding shape above said heel breast flap, the heel seat portion is provided with a hole or perforation for use in positioning the sole on a soling machine. 'I'hen said heel seat portion is trimmed around the edge to remove a strip in the general shape of a horseshoe to provide for proper fit of a heel, and finally wing joint cutting is effected by making cuts constituting extensions of the side edges of the trimmed heel seat portion or tab so as to enable the heel to be supported by holding the extension thereof under the heel breast flap perfectly firm. In the regular course of manufacture, the sole provided with a heel breast flap is placed in one machine and a hole punched through the heel seat portion above the heel breast flap so that this hole or perforation may be used in connection with a guide or positioning device of a known soling machine. Then the sole is taken to another machine to enable the trimming of the heel seat flap by cutting out an edge portion substantially in the shape of a horseshoe. It has also been customary after these two steps have been finished to cut the wing joints by carrying forward at the edge of the heel seat tab short cuts to provide flaps for use in supporting the heel by holding the extension of the heel under the breasting perfectly firm.

According to the method of preparing the sole in general practice heretofore, it has been customary in the performance of the first two operations to use two expensive machines and to perform the wing cutting manually. Obviously the preparation of the sole by three successive operations adds to the expense and it is necessary to have two expensive machines for the first two steps.

An important object of the invention is to provide improved means for preparing soles, having heel breast flaps for laying and for heel attaching. A second object of the invention is to provide a simple device for effecting in a single operation results heretofore obtained in said three separate operations.

Preferably in carrying out the present invention, use is made of a single device which in one operation perforates the heel seat fiap' above the heel breast flap in position to guide and hold the 1939, Serial No. 261,203

sole into proper position in the soling machine, cuts off a strip, in the general form of a horseshoe, around the edge of the heel seat flap, and cuts the wing joints. To obtain the desired results, use is made of a device which may be operated by hand or otherwise, comprising a punch adapted to punch a positioning hole or perforation in the heel seat flap, a cutter extending around the heel seat portion of the sole in a position to out out a strip of general horseshoe shape and also to cut the wing joints at the forward ends of the cut out portions of said sides so as to provide rearwardly extending flaps adapted to assist in supporting the heel by hold ing the extension of the heel under the heel breast flap perfectly firm.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear upon consideration of the following specification and of the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates. the rear end of a sole having a heel seat flap and beneath the same a heel breast flap adapted to be secured to the breast of the heel;

Fig. 2 shows in separated relation a heel seat extension or flap and a horseshoe-shaped edge portion cut therefrom, the heel seat flap being provided with cuts forming extensions of the side edges resulting from the removal of the edge portion;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a device constituting an approved embodiment of the present invention,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the device shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the device shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a section taken along the lines 6--6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a section taken along the lines '!I of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a heel adapted for use in connection with the sole of the type disclosed.

Referring to the drawing, there is disclosed in Fig. 1 the rear end of a sole or sole blank I 0 comprising at its heel portion in superposed position a heel seat flap II and a heel breast flap I2. In the lower part of Fig. 2, there is shown the rear portion of a sole prepared for laying and heel attaching and in the upper part of this figure is a horseshoe-shaped piece l3 out from the margin of the heel seat flap H to provide a heel seat tab l4 adapted to facilitate a substantially perfect fit of a heel l5 such as shown in Fig. 8. In cutting out the horseshoe-shaped strip l3, the

heel seat flap H is left with wings, and in completing the sole for laying not only is there formed in the heel seat flap II a perforation 16 for positioning the sole in a soling machine, but the wings are cut along lines I! in alignment with the side edges of the heel seat tab [4, thus forming wing tabs 18 which may be placed beneath the overhanging forward extension at the top of the heel and hold the extension of the heel perfectly firm under the heel breast flap l2 when the parts are finally assembled as indicated in Fig. 8.

The sole structure illustrated in Fig. 2 is that which has been produced heretofore but by a plurality of steps or processes and by use of a plurality of machines. According to the present invention it is proposed to effect in a single step the changes necessary to change sole ID of Fig. 1 to the form illustrated in the lower part of Fig. 2. In order to produce the necessary cutting of the heel seat flap l l it may first be placed on a suitable support !Ba (Fig. '7) with the heel breast flap turned away from the heel seat.

The cutting may then be effected in one operation of the device of the present invention which in an approved form may comprise a base which may comprise a base plate 19 of horseshoe shape adapted to rest on the part of the heel seat flap to be cut out but arranged to provide ample room for the action of the cutting devices, and a punch proper which may comprise a body portion or body 20 yieldably supported on the plate l9 by means of helical springs 2| surrounding screws 22 which pass loosely through lugs 23 projecting from the body portion 2!! and are secured at their lower ends in the base plate E9, the upward movement of the body portion or body 20 after a punching operation being limited by engagement of the lugs 23 with the heads of the screws 22. For convenience in operation the body portion 20 of the punch may be provided with a handle 24.

Secured to the body portion 20 of the punch and projecting downwardly therefrom is a cutting blade 25 of horseshoe shape and of such shape and dimensions as to pass down through the horseshoe base plate It and not only to cut the strip I3 loose at its inner edge but also to form the wing cuts ll beyond the wing shoulders formed by the cutting loose of the ends of the strip 13 by wing blades on blade sections 26 projecting outwardly from the sides of the horseshoe shaped blade 25.

In order to form a positioning hole or perforation 16 in the heel seat tab l4 provision may be made of a hollow perforating punch or perforator 21 carried by the punch body 20. Preferably the perforator 21 is so mounted on the body 20 that it can easily be removed for sharpening or replacement in an easy way. As illustrated the perforator is in the general form of a tube reduced at its upper end to form a shoulder and the reduced portion is secured in a block 28 with said shoulder resting against the block and the block is removably secured to the punch body 20 by suitable means such as screws 29. In operation the plugs cut out by the perforator are gradually moved up through the perforator and discharged from the punch body through suitable passages.

It should be understood that, although the device is disclosed as a manually operated device, it may be operated by other means. It will be apparent that use of the device of the present invention serves to reduce the cost of necessary equipment and also the cost of operating on the sole to prepare it for laying and heel attaching.

It should be understood that various features may be changed and that certain features may be used without others without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

A device for preparing for laying a sole having at its rear end a heel seat flap and a heel breast flap, comprising a horseshoe shaped base plate to rest on the margin of the heel seat flap and hold the same in position on a support, and a punch yieldably supported on the base plate so that it can be forced down to act on the heel seat flap, said punch comprising a horseshoe-shaped blade adapted to pass down inside of said base plate, wing blades extending outwardly from the sides of the horseshoe-shaped blade so as to cooperate with the part of the horseshoe-shaped blade to the rear thereof and out out a horseshoeshaped marginal strip of the heel seat flap and leave a heel seat tab while the ends of the horseshoe-shaped blade to the front of said wing blades make cuts in the wings formed in the heel seat flap at the front of the wing blades, and a hollow perforator projecting downwardly in the rear portion of the horseshoe-shaped blade to make a perforation in said heel seat tab for posi: tioning the sole on a soling machine.

SANTO AZZARA. 

